Erin’s Recipe Rundown
Growing up, my family always made cornmeal pancakes (with this gluten-free quiche) on Christmas morning, but my husband’s family tradition was sticky buns.
Making a gluten-free version that’s just as good was an absolute must! I’m happy to say these gluten-free sticky buns pass my husband’s sweet roll test with flying colors. They taste just like the classic treat!
Why You’ll Love It: Toasted pecans and rich caramel sauce over soft, fluffy, yeasted rolls make an irresistible combination. This decadent, holiday-worthy recipe is sure to impress both gluten-free and gluten-loving eaters alike.
Top Tip: Take the time to refrigerate the dough before rolling it out. Gluten-free dough can be tricky to handle and chilling it makes it so much easier to work with!
You may also like these gluten-free bread flour recipes: gluten-free cinnamon rolls, gluten-free pumpkin cinnamon rolls, gluten-free apple fritters, gluten-free monkey bread, and gluten-free hot cross buns.
xoxo erin
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make these gluten-free sticky buns. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements
- Gluten-free bread flour: King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour is the only blend that will work with this recipe! This flour contains gluten-free wheat starch which creates the traditional sticky bun texture and proper structure.
- Yeast: This is 100% necessary to achieve light and fluffy sticky buns. Use instant, not active dry yeast, which can be added directly to the dry mix without activating first.
- Eggs: Eggs are essential in gluten-free yeast recipes to properly bind the dough. Without eggs, the buns can easily become dense and disappointing.
- Corn syrup: The corn syrup is prevents crystallization for smooth caramel.
Serve them with this Sausage Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole.
How to Make Gluten-Free Sticky Buns
Here’s an overview of how to make this recipe. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
Make the glaze: I prefer to use a stand mixer for ease, but a hand mixer works too! Cream the sugars, butter, and salt until light and fluffy, then mix in the corn syrup and vanilla.
In the prepared baking pan: Spread the glaze evenly in the pan and sprinkle with pecans.
Prep the dough: The stand mixer is a huge help with the dough! Combine the dry ingredients, then slowly add the liquid ingredients. Gluten-free dough looks different! The goal is a thick cookie dough consistency. Cover tightly and chill so that it’s easier to roll into a 15×15″ square. Just don’t forget to flour your work surface!
Add the filling: Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl first, then sprinkle it across the dough. Using a pizza cutter to slice the twelve 1¼” wide strips makes the job much easier!
Roll and rise: Roll each dough strip up into a spiral and place on the glaze in the baking pan. Repeat until all twelve are rolled up and evenly placed in the pan. Cover the buns with oiled plastic wrap, then let them rise in a warm place.
Bake and enjoy: Bake until they’re slightly golden brown. Let the sticky buns cool for 15 minutes in the pan before turning them out onto either another pan or serving platter. Take time to spoon any run-off glaze back onto the buns, then cool for another 20 minutes before serving. Now the hard part…try to only eat one!
Gluten-Free Sticky Buns
Ingredients
Caramel-Pecan Glaze
- 1 cup (226g) butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (106g) brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (120ml) corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (65g) chopped pecans
Dough
- 4½ cups (675g) King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour
- ⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1¼ cups (300ml) water, warm
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, warm
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons (85g) butter, melted
Filling
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- For the caramel-pecan glaze: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, mix together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add the corn syrup and vanilla, and continue to mix for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Spread the glaze into an even layer in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans.
- For the sticky bun dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the gluten-free bread flour, sugar, instant yeast, salt and baking powder. Mix to combine.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly add the water, milk, eggs and melted butter. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 3 minutes. The dough will resemble thick cookie dough, this is normal.
- Using an oiled rubber spatula, scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. (Refrigerating the dough makes it easier to roll out.)
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Sprinkle with a little gluten-free flour, then roll the dough out into a 15×15-inch square.
- For the filling: In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar filling all over the dough.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut the square into twelve 1¼-inch-wide strips.
- Roll each dough strip up into a spiral. Place in the prepared baking pan on top of the caramel-pecan glaze.
- Cover the pan with oiled plastic wrap and place in a warm place. Allow the rolls to rise for 45-60 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the plastic wrap. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the rolls are slightly golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the baking pan for 15 minutes before turning them out onto another pan or serving platter. Spoon any run-off glaze back over the buns. Cool for another 20 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in August 2014. It was updated with new photos and instructions in October 2025.
I just found your recipe for the GF sticky buns & want to try them. But have a question: What can I use as a substitute for corn syrup?? Thanks.
Hi there, the corn syrup prevents the sugar from crystallizing and stabilizes the glaze. Without it, the glaze can be very grainy/gritty. You could try using a golden syrup or brown rice syrup instead, but there aren’t a ton of swaps that will work the same way. We hope this helps and you love the sticky buns!
Fantastic recipe. These are as good as most sticky bun recipes. It’s soft and has a lovey crumb. This is the first gluten free recipe I have been truly satisfied with and I will be trying more of your recipes. Thank you!
Yay! We’re so pleased you loved the recipe so much, Kim! Thank you for taking the time to share your positive baking experience with us!
We have an egg allergy in our house. Can the egg be substituted for something else?
Hi Kelly, we don’t typically bake with egg substitutes unfortunately. Flax eggs may work, but the buns will most likely be slightly less fluffy. We’d love to hear how it goes!
Can the GF King Arthur Bread Flour be used in place of 1:1 like your cinnamon roll recipe?
Hi Amy, we haven’t tested the GF KA bread flour with this recipe. Since that flour differs quite a bit from the KA measure-for-measure flour, it would most likely require further adjustments to make the bread flour work in this recipe. We hope this helps!
The flavor was amazing!!! It was my first time making anything like this. Everything went well according to the directions UNTIL haha trying to form the log. I did the best I could, but it was too goopy to form. So I just put it in the pan. I wish that I would have known that liquid would bubble over into oven!! All in all it is a fantastic recipe with delicious flavor. Is there a video for the dough assembly part?
Hi Sandra, we’re sorry it was a messy recipe for you, but we’re so glad you loved the flavor! It looks like we don’t have a video for this one, but we’ll keep that in mind for future updates. Next time, if the dough seems too thin, you can try adding a little more flour to the mixture incrementally until it resembles thick cookie dough. We hope your next bake is a total success!
When the dough is all rolled up in the pan, could I freeze them at that point? Then thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake. Does that sound like it might work? I need to make them well in advance, and I want fresh, hot from the oven rolls.
Hi there, unfortunately, this dough is too delicate to freeze at any point. Thank you for your question!
I made these last night, and OMG! You nailed it! I found psyllium husk powder in the fiber aisle (think, Metamucil) in my local Walmart. These were so good my non gf hubby stole 2 of them before I could tell him they were gf! I also used my cast iron, but forgot to lower the temp, the syrup boiled over and burned but that was my fault. Next time, I will lower the temp!
Thank you for an amazing recipe! I now have to figure out what to do with the rest of the psyllium husk powder I have.
Hi! I am allergic to almonds. Is there a substitute you’d suggest?
You can use more gluten-free flour in place of the almond flour.
I have not tried this yet but I am giving it 5 stars because the recipe looks very promising and I am definitely going to make it. My only question at this point is that I do not have a stand mixer, only a hand mixer. I do have strong arms 🙂 Can mix it with a good wooden spoon, the old time way?? Any tips on doing it that way.
Yes you can make it by hand – just know you’ll have to mix/knead it as best you can for about 5 minutes until the dough is fully incorporated. I hope this helps!
Made these for Easter Brunch. Couldn’t locate psyllium, so I used Xanthan gum. I prefer walnuts to pecans, so I subbed them. Used my good old cast iron skillet and lowered the temp to 350*. They turned out—AMAZING. Thank you Erin for the very detailed recipe instructions and the helpful hints. When I finished putting them all together, I did an internal shrug and thought “What’s the big deal?” They were the hit of the buffet table, especially for my 42 year old Celiac son, who hasn’t had a sticky bun in over 15 years. Thank you!!
Thanks for the comment! I’m so glad they turned out for you and that your son could enjoy them. Hope you had a wonderful Easter!
THANK YOU for mentioning Xantham, Bill!
How much did you use? Sticky buns are what I’ve so wanted a GF recipe for; and I was so excited to first find a recipe here; but since my husband and I are allergic to psyllium, this recipe has previously been a no-go. These sticky buns do look so good.
Would this dough work well to make cinnamon rolls?
I haven’t tried this myself, but I think it should work! I am also sharing a brand new cinnamon roll recipe next month!
I’ve been making sticky buns for years (it’s our Christmas morning indulgence); this was my first attempt at GF sticky buns. They were great! I could not find psyllium husk powder so substituted same quantity of xanthan gum. Instead of using the caramel as the filling, I used brown sugar, cinnamon and finely chopped pecans and pressed it into the dough prior to rolling. I wish I could share a photo because they were gorgeous and were given a huge thumbs up by all. Thanks for the recipe!
Can I make cinnamon rolls out of the dough recipe? With a cinnamon sugar and butter filling? I’ve found several cinnamon roll recipes online but I love the texture of your sandwich bread, and I feel like the psyllium husk has something to do with it! I’m hoping to modify this recipe for cinnamon rolls!